Faint
by BunniesOfDoom
Summary: Ed is acting off, but Mustang is too angry about his latest mission failure to notice-until it's impossible to ignore. Sickfic.


Anyway, this is set pre-series. Enjoy!

* * *

"So, you're saying that the mission was a complete disaster?" Roy asks sharply, fixing the teenager standing in front of him with an irritated look.

"That's what I said," Ed replies shortly, his tone devoid of any emotion.

"And you let the runaway alchemist slip away without even a fight?" Ed nods mechanically. "I suppose that I shouldn't even bother asking about the other thing, then?"

A despondent shake of the head. "There was no sign of the stone," Ed mutters, staring at the floor in front of his boots.

"That's 'There was no sign of the stone,' sir," Roy emphasizes. "And Fullmetal, would it kill you to look me in the eyes when we talk, rather than having a staring contest with the floor?"

"Sorry, sir." Ed jerkily raises his head so that his golden eyes meet the Colonel's. His eyes seem oddly unfocused, and his unusual obedience is suspicious. But Roy is too angry to care right now.

"So, to sum it up, you wasted a great deal of government time and resources on this flagrant failure of a mission, and you ended up being lead on a wild goose chase that was ultimately fruitless. And you found no new information about the stone. Is that correct, Fullmetal?" He pauses his lecture to wait for Ed's response. When he gets no answer, he tries again. "Are you even listening to me right now? It's like you don't take this seriously at all."

He pauses when he notices Ed swaying on his feet. The teenager has his jaw clenched tightly, and his pale face is in stark contrast to his blonde hair. "Edward?" he asks, finally starting to be concerned.

At Roy's words, Ed's glassy eyes roll back in their sockets and he crumples to the floor. Startled, Roy barely manages to catch him before he hits the floor.

As soon as he grabs Ed's shoulders to prevent him from smashing his face into the ground, the problem suddenly becomes obvious. "You're burning up!" he exclaims, the heat radiating off of Ed nearly enough to seat his hands. Cursing, he props the passed-out teenager up and ends up moving him to a chair. "What the hell were you thinking? Hawkeye!" he shouts.

She's at his side in an instant. "Sir?"

"Call the infirmary. Something's really wrong with Fullmetal," he explains. "And maybe fetch a wet cloth or something?" He's not really sure what to do, but it's obvious that they need to get Ed's fever down, and fast.

Hawkeye leaves the room, and Ed starts to stir a bit, eyes cracking open to reveal slivers of gold. There are enormous dark circles under them, and Roy wishes that he'd noticed sooner. "Are you with me, Fullmetal?"

Ed makes a noncommittal sound in his throat. "Where'm I?" he slurs thickly.

"You're still in my office. Do you remember what happened?"

"Fell?" Ed suggests, sounding genuinely puzzled.

"You passed out because you're running an extremely high fever. Hawkeye called the infirmary for help."

As if on cue, Hawkeye enters the room, a soaked towel in hand. She gently presses it to Ed's forehead, ignoring the way he protests at the sudden chill. "Is there anything else that you need?" she asks expectantly. Roy could kiss her.

"Send someone to fetch his brother before he starts freaking out and comes to see what happened." A panicked Edward Elric is a disaster waiting to happen, but a panicked Alphonse Elric is even more destructive.

"Al?" Ed barely rolls his head to the side. The effort seems to exhaust him. "Where's my brother?"

"Al is fine, he'll be here shortly. Don't get yourself all worked up, just stay still for now." Ed huffs in protest, but there's not exactly much he can do right now.

"Why didn't you say something, Edward?" Roy probes, trying to keep the teenager somewhat conscious while they wait for the paramedics.

"I didn't," Ed pauses to cough and clear his throat. "I didn't think that it was that bad."

Roy gives a short laugh. "Well, clearly you were wrong. Try not to strain yourself any more before help gets here, okay?"

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!


End file.
